


Lead, I'll Follow

by bar2d2s



Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: F/M, M/M, Multi, Post-Movie
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-11
Updated: 2016-01-11
Packaged: 2018-05-13 04:58:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 949
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5695888
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bar2d2s/pseuds/bar2d2s
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He wakes.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Lead, I'll Follow

Finn didn't wake all at once. First, his breathing changed. Next, he became acutely aware of the pounding pains in his shoulder and back. Then quite suddenly, he realized that he was _alive_ , and his eyes flew open. The medbay light was too bright, and he hissed, squeezing them shut again. 

"Rey?" He mumbled, reaching out blindly with the arm that wasn't hurting. "Rey-" A warm hand came out of the nothing, twining its fingers with his, and Finn relaxed. Rey, Rey was- 

"No, the other one." 

He'd expected his heart to fall to his stomach at the sound of the distinctly masculine voice, but it soared instead. "Poe Dameron!" Poe laughed, thumb stroking along the back of his hand. 

"Welcome back, hero." His tone was soft, teasing, but Finn still swelled with pride. "You had us all worried for a while there." 

"Is Rey-" Finn paused, pulling his lower lip into his mouth. His eyes were still closed, and the drag of his teeth over chapped skin was just this side of painful. "Can I see Rey?" The sigh before Poe answered put him on edge.

"She's gone to complete the mission, Finn. Next time we see her, she's going to be dragging Luke Skywalker back by his ear." 

Finn moved to sit up, hissing at the way the skin on his back stretched and pulled, and Poe pushed him back down. "No, Poe, I need to find her, I need to go where she goes I-" He opened his eyes, and was shocked to see how close Poe's face actually was. "I need a pilot." 

Poe chuckled, palming his forehead as he leaned away. "You need a pitcher of water, solid food, another week of bed rest, a bath, and to be caught up on everything that's happened since you've been out." 

Finn's spirits fell until he realized something; Poe hadn't said no, just not yet. He smiled, and the tension that had been gathering in the room vanished. Without sitting up further, he unclasped their hands, tugging Poe forward by the wrist until the other man had one knee on the bed, his other hand braced by Finn's waist. 

His eyes went wide as Finn released his arm and sat up a fraction, wrapping both arms around him with nothing more than a slight intake of breath as the scarring on his shoulder stretched uncomfortably. 

"Thank you." He whispered, face pressed to Poe's neck. Poe brought his arms up automatically, looping one beneath his uninjured shoulder, the other resting lightly against the small of his back. 

Finn was a large man, powerful, well-trained, but he was also young, and frightened. He held the people he cared for close, with both arms grasping, terrified they'd leave him. Poe had felt it at their reunion before, and Rey had told him she'd felt it when he came to Starkiller Base for her. Finn would have made a horrible Stormtrooper; he loved too openly. 

"We're gonna find her." Poe replied, one hand moving up to smooth over the back of Finn's head. "We'll bring her home." 

The tender scene was ruined abruptly by a medical droid, who'd been summoned by the sudden surge of Finn's heartbeat. Poe tried not to laugh at Finn's look of annoyance as he was stripped to the waist, his scarred back coated in a layer of bacta. The droid helped him stand, then had him lay down again on his stomach, where he was handed a closed container with a straw poking out of it. 

Finn drank the water slowly, but greedily, taking large sips that he held in his mouth. Eventually he noticed that while Poe was silent, he hadn't left. A creeping feeling of self-consciousness came over him as he realized that Poe was staring at the shiny pink of the scars, his jaw working slowly, as if he was chewing on the angry things he wanted to say. 

"At least I'm alive." He offered weakly, and Poe snapped to attention. 

"We're going to find Rey." He said again, more forcefully this time. "We're going to get stronger and more organized, and we're going to shut the First Order down, once and for all." 

"Kind of ambitious for just three people." Finn said dryly, and Poe laughed. 

It was already obvious that wherever Rey went, Finn would follow. He'd said so himself. But now it was certain; wherever Finn was, that was where Poe wanted to be. Be it the heat of battle, the cockpit of a TIE fighter, or this quiet medical room. 

"You know what I mean." He replied, falling back into the chair he'd been sitting in before Finn woke. "It'll all be over soon, and then we'll all be free." 

They sat in companionable silence as Finn finished his water, the salve dulling the pain as it worked. Eventually, Finn was able to slowly push himself up, swinging his legs over the side of the bed as he turned to face Poe. 

"And what will you do then, when the fighting's done?" 

Just as slowly, Poe leaned forward, placing on hand on Finn's leg, the other cupping the back of his head, their foreheads pressed together. 

"Whatever the two of you want me to do." 

He pulled away just in time to watch the smile light up Finn's face, so bright and sincere, it almost hurt to look at. 

Because it was a pretty promise to make, in a time of quiet healing, but who knew what the rest of the war would bring? Would they all even still _be_ there, once it was over? This, Poe didn't know. Couldn't know. 

But for Finn, he'd damn well try.


End file.
